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Friday, January 26, 2018

Dave Jorn, Baseball Knowledge - 26

Originally published Jan. 17, 2015
University of Arkansas pitching coach Dave Jorn was a pitching sage, one of his pitchers, Nick Schmidttold HawgsIllstruated in 2007.

It was an assessment Arkansas catcher Brian Walker agreed with, HawgsIllustrated wrote.

"Coach Jorn starts talking, everyone tries to get close and listen," Walker told the site. "You are going to get a chance to soak up a tremendous amount of baseball knowledge. Nick is right. Sage is the right word."

Jorn started his coaching career in college and he later returned to college, a job he is continuing in 2015. In between, Jorn spent several years as a coach in the minors - the place where he started his professional career.

Jorn's career in baseball began in 1976, signed by the Cardinals as a free agent out of Southeast Missouri State University.

Jorn's playing career lasted six seasons. He started in the rookie Gulf Coast League. He moved to single-A Gastonia in 1977.

He made AA Arkansas in 1980. He went 6-4 in 20 outings, 11 starts there. He had a 4.61 ERA. His final season came in 1981, playing between Arkansas and AAA Springfield.

Jorn then started his second career as a coach. He's credited as starting at Lurleen Wallace Community College in Alabama. By 1983, he was at the University of Arkansas as pitching coach.

His first stint at Arkansas lasted six seasons. He moved to the minors in 1989, serving as pitching coach at single-A Prince William. He moved to single-A Greensboro in 1990.

In 1991, he arrived at AA Albany-Colonie. That April, he watched as his team rattled off an eight-game winning streak, crediting his pitchers with staying away from big innings, according to The Schenectady Daily Gazette.

"We've been making some pretty good pitches when we try to make them," Jorn told The Daily Gazette. "If there is any positive part about it, it's that right there. We've been issuing some walks, but we haven't been giving up a lot of runs."

Jorn continued in the minors through 2001, when he managed at short-season Staten Island. After a stint as a scout, he returned to college. He also returned to Arkansas.

Jorn has been with the Razorbacks as a coach since 2003, continuing in 2015. He's helped the team to three College World Series appearances, as well as to the tournament in each season during his current stint with the team.

In May 2014, Jorn's Razorbacks made another tournament after losing top pitchers the previous summer to the draft, USA Today wrote.

"I knew we had some kids that were competitive and some hard workers that had some talent," Jorn told USAToday as the tournament began. "They just needed some innings to try to figure out whether or not they were going to be good enough to be able to compete."

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